A Lost War
by JL Mansell
Summary: The kingdom of Araluen is in flames, all of Will's wardmates are dead, and King Duncan is gone... can Will and Alyss escape?
1. Prolouge

Heat engulfed my vision as I weaved in and out through the burning limbs of the nearby trees. Sweat dripped down my face and my breath came in large gasps of air. My heart beat twice its speed and my legs felt as if they were give away any moment from now.

It felt like hours before I cam upon a clearing. I scanned the nearby area and spotted a log cabin not far away from here. I didn't wait a moment too soon. I dashed as fast as I could toward the cabin door and burst my way in. It was dark, except for the lights of the fire that seeped through the doorway.

"Halt!" I yelled.

I quickly started to work. I searched through every nook and cranny of the small cabin, but didn't find any trace of him at all.

I started to panic.

"What if they already got to him first?" I thought to myself.

After about 10 minutes, I finally decided I had to leave. I walked fast out the door, an arrow already notched on my bowstring. I scanned the perimeter for an opening in the fire. I cursed myself for searching for so long. That's when I spotted a thin opening through a couple of shrubs. I will have to take the chance of jumping through the fire.

I took a couple of steps back to gain speed. Then without thinking, I sprinted toward the opening and made a large leap through the undergrowth. A searing pain overcame me and I realized my cloak was on fire! I took it off as fast as I could and stomped on the flames.

"There goes my last cloak." I thought to myself.

But that didn't matter right now. I scooped up my cloak and headed for town. Only hoping it was not as bad as it was here.


	2. A Horrific Discovery

Chapter 1

I ran for what felt like miles, until I came upon my awaiting horse, Tug. He lifts his head up in alarm as I jumped none too easy onto his back. Without a moment to wait, I nudged his side with my boot. We rode as fast as we could up to the castle walls. Thankfully the drawbridge was down so I could cross.

The inside of the walls were just as bad as the forest.

Fires sprung from left to right. I saw people screaming, either on fire or dead. Robbers that escaped from the castle prison were taking whatever they could use from the market stalls. I didn't have time to catch them all. I ran through the crowds toward the castle doors. I pushed on them but it didn't budge an inch.

I backed away and leaped onto the walls. It was easy to climb because of all the practice I had when I was a kid. I climbed swiftly and accurately to avoid falling to my instant death.

Finally, I reached an open window and leaped inside. Fortunately this part of the castle wasn't on fire yet.

I ran down the corridor, hoping to find someone I knew alive. But that wasn't going to be easy.

All this hell happened only today.

Like usual me and Halt were having our daily training session when we heard screams all the way from the castle. We didn't waste any time just sitting there frozen with fear. We dashed to the stable that Halt had me build for the horses and retrieved our horses.

We dashed through the field, ignoring the pleasant view of the newly sprung flowers. Halt motioned me to slow down. We got off our horses and hid behind a group of bushes staring in horror of what was in front of us. A whole army of Wargals were attacking the kingdom!

There were more then I could ever imagine! They surrounded the whole fief, maybe a million or so. I never knew there were this many in existence.

They easily broke through the walls like they were nothing and started laying siege.

We got back onto our horses and snuck past them, it was actually quiet easy since they were interested in the siege instead of their surroundings.

We ran toward the town square where Halt stopped me for a moment.

He told me to go and find all of my ward mates and to see if they were ok. He was going to find King Duncan and find out what was going on.

I didn't get a chance to argue with him because he was already off toward the front lines. That was the last time I ever saw him.

I first looked for Jenny at the castle kitchen. Nobody was there.

Then I looked for Horace at the battle school. Again no soul was there for me to see.

That was when I really got to start worrying. I then looked for George at the Scribe school. That was when everything turned toward the worst. I burst through the doors and yelled out for his name.

"George! Are you here George?" I screamed.

I then stood in horror as I looked at the unmoving bodies of all my closest friends.

All of them scattered in piles or in individual groups on the floor. Blood splattered on the walls.

There was Horace, Jenny, and George and all of their mentors. All stone cold dead on the spot.

My legs wobbled as I fell to the floor, tears already falling from my face. I sobbed over the forsaken bodies of my loved ones.

I already started to miss them. Never again will I taste Jenny's delicious pies. Or hear George's heartfelt speeches. And never again will I ever get to spend time with my best friend Horace.

I felt as if the whole world was gone. I lay on the floor crying my eyes out, pleading to the skies to bring them back. I sat there for an hour sulking and babbling to myself.

Then I couldn't cry anymore, it was as if I dried up all of my tears. I wanted to cry but I couldn't.

Then I remembered one person who I didn't see. My angel on this hell of an earth. My loved one who I always have and will adore. The one who I would kill and die for with no hesitation.

Alyss…

A seed of hope was sown in my barren land of a soul. Maybe she wasn't dead at all!

I snapped back to attention, remembering the siege. I glanced to my friends and made a promise to them.

"I will avenge you…" I whispered to myself.

I then slowly walked out of the castle without looking back…


	3. A New Start

Chapter 2

The siege was over. While I hid in the castles secret room, the Wargal army destroyed the rest of the kingdom, leaving nothing behind.

Luckily Tug was still where I left him. I grabbed Tug by his reins and led him through town, surveying the damage. No soul was in sight.

Dead bodies littered the streets and blood splattered the walls of nearby buildings.

Already the stench of the corpses were unbearable. I couldn't stay here any longer, I had to leave.

There was only one person who would accept me, Gilan. He would gladly take me in right now. He said that he always wanted someone to talk to during the day.

But before I could leave, I had to find Alyss. But the problem is where to find her.

I might have walked for hours before I came upon an abandoned church. It wasn't as damaged as all the other buildings, but there were still some minor damages here and there.

I thought that maybe someone left some leftover food in the church pantry.

I slowly creaked open the door and coughed with all the dust in the air. Who knew that so much dust could be gathered in a day?

I stalked around a little bit, looking through every nook I could get into. At the end all I could find were a couple of apples and a stale loaf of bread.

I was just about to leave when a shadow caught the corner of my eye.

I quickly jumped behind a broken pew and held my breath.

I mentally kicked myself for burning my cloak.

I heard the clicking of shoes on the floor and jumped up, knife in my hand.

I grabbed the stranger by the neck and put the knife to his throat. Only the problem was, he was not a he, but a she!

She struggled through my choke hold, but I wasn't going to back down anytime soon.

Finally, I thought that she wasn't a threat and let her go. She pushed me away and fell to the floor.

Instantly I recognized the lush, long blond hair and pale skin and knew who the girl was.

"Alyss!" I yelled.

The girl looked up at me and her eyes grew wide. The next thing I knew I was on the floor in a rib breaking bear hug.

"Oh my gosh Will! Thank god it's you!" She said with her cheeks already streaming with tears.

After about 10 minutes with her crying and thanking the gods, she finally got up and wiped her cheeks with her ragged brown cloak.

My shirt was damp with the salty liquid.

"Alyss, what happened? One minute, me and Halt are training, and the next, the whole town is destroyed!" I said.

She took a deep breath.

"Well… the whole thing started with the invasion." She stopped.

"What about it?" I said anxious to know more.

"Well, we had no idea that the army was on the way, it was like they appeared out of no where!" She started to shake again, remembering the gore.

For another 5 minutes I held her, whispering comforting words into her ear. Then she stopped and took another breath.

"The castle guards were taken by surprise and weren't ready for the invasion." She said.

"But what about Jenny, Horace, and George?" I said raising my voice a little.

She jumped with the outburst. I apologized and she continued.

"The Baron led all of them into the study to hide, Horace tried to resist, asking to fight, but Baron denied every word of it." She said.

Will nodded, letting every word soak in.

"Will? What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?" She said with fear in her voice.

"I got that part all figured out, we are going to go and live with Gilan at his fief, he'll hopefully accept me as his apprentice and you'll find another teacher." I said.

She just sat there, staring at the ground in deep thought.

After a few moments she nodded accepting the idea.

"First, we'll gather some left-over supplies, weapons, and horses and be on our way." I told her.

We slowly got up. Alyss, still grasping to my hand, rose with me.

This was the start of our new lives…


End file.
